


The Countryside Horror

by BlueFlashbang



Category: Lapidot - Fandom, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: ?? - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Ghost Hunters, Angst, Blood and Gore, Demonic Possession, Exorcisms, F/F, Human, Lapidot Week 2017, Scripture References, Technology, i changed the title to make it sound cooler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-25 05:50:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12524416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueFlashbang/pseuds/BlueFlashbang
Summary: Two paranormal investigators are asked to go and inspect an abandoned barn that is greatly rumored to be haunted by a vicious entity. Being assured that their request was not going to take too long, they fail to foresee what can contend them in their excursion to debunking an old structure in the middle of Beach City's countryside.





	The Countryside Horror

**Author's Note:**

> Peridot and Lapis' last names are a reference to 'Ed and Lorraine Warren', who are the people behind other horror stories such as the Annabelle Doll and the Amittyville Haunting. But their characters are completely different in this fic.
> 
> i think my writing style is a little different and might be unfixed, but exams were on the way this week so I had so little time to concentrate on this fic. hence I spent another sleepless midnight writing a slightly angsty lapidot fic.  
> and besides, the last time I've ever written a horror story was when I was 11 years old, so this is a fresh start to my once favorite genre, as well as my first submission to Lapidot Halloween Week. and of course, hope you guys enjoy!

Reported findings of odd and ghost like activities were being rumored by random teenagers and elders, telling stories that they were wandering around an open field in the middle of dusk for dalliance or curiosity. They would bump into this structure sooner or later. It was an empty red barn, possibly abandoned for decades, and they let their curiousness make them wander even more. But some would come back to tell that accounts of what happened, while some would never came back as told. 

They enlightened the play-by-play as evident as they can. One goes in and saunters further to discover the artifacts of a pilot, and then the activity occurs from there.  
The sound of repeated footsteps and grumbling would be heard behind the trespassers.  
As an outcome, they emulated anxiety and a feeling that they were being observed.  
Soon items and boxes would clatter to the ground on their own.  
Sometimes, plane engines would start up autonomously and jumps scare the driven trespassers.  
Then finally someone, or something, would begin to actually grasp their limbs. And if possible, it managed to reach their souls. 

“It looked at me. Spoke to me. It wanted me dead and grinned like a mad reaper.” Some added vaguely. 

It was never clarified for sure whether it was human, animal, dead or alive. But it aggressively distressed its bolted victims and it was swift as wind. Of course, not everyone would come to believe the accounts. Indeed it was too superstitious to be true.  
Heck, even a little too cliché to be real at all. An abandoned shelter? In the middle of the field in late hours? And a beast is said to repose in the location? It was right out of a fictional horror story. 

And yet it wouldn’t be so false if it traumatized the story tellers so drastically. 

 

October 31. Halloween Night. 

The accounts were suddenly getting out of hand all over town. And to many, it was certainly getting bothersome. It was time for someone, or two people for this matter, to put an end to the stories spread by strangers on the sidewalk and determine whether the barn haunting is a reality or a hoax…

Paranormal investigators ‘Lapis and Peridot Warren’ were the best and only certified experts of their jobs in town. For a while, they were involved in numerous but infamous cases of hauntings, and even dispelling ethereal encounters. The Beach City Lighthouse Haunting and the Dead Man’s Mouth Haunting were two out of a hundred cases they have solved. But this couple was a fitting couple, an obsessed and artistic bunch who understood each other when no one else did. 

In Halloween morning, a hasty priest from a nearby church rushed to their outlying home and entreated them to finally explore the countryside. He conveyed along some evidence to their house’s workplace, most of them obviously being recorded videos and photographs by the barn’s trespassers to prove them cognizance of the haunting. It was all there. The repetitive footsteps, the collided items, even glimpses of the entity haunting the outhouse. But all that was grasped was glimmering yellow eyes with a large silhouette. 

“This must be helpful, right?” he enquired cogency of the proofs. “Please, I’ve already been approached about this absurd occurrence for a few days now, and there’s no one else I can confront to sanction this request other than you two.”

The couple only had to do was just confirm that they will accept their trip.

 

“So what do ya say, Lapis?” Peridot asks in the other side of the workspace. “Should we solve this case or does this look like wind-up to you?”

“Hmm. I don’t know.” Lapis answers. “I’m going to be honest, Peridot, a lot of the actions in the clips we saw looked sort of fake. And so do the images. They seem kind of edited or something like that.” 

“I have the same idea too. We really can’t accept this offer right away…You do remember the last time someone walked up to us and claimed that they had seen some kind of ghost haunting, right?”

 

There was this one time. A bunch of arbitrary visitors claimed to have seen a ‘possessed demonic’ child trying to ransack the boardwalk. And after confronting the family and already preparing a full-proof exorcism, it turns out the child named Onion was just a rather audacious juvenile who lacked the desire to speak. This caused the two investigators to be mortified and promised to be careful next time. 

 

“Okay sure, we haven’t been getting a lot of demands lately, let alone successful ones.” Lapis says. “But then again, a lot of our cases have been proven right before, despite skeptics saying that we’re crazy.”  
She took some time to ponder as she gazed down and concerted. “…I say we should give this one a go. The priest mentioned that our only task was to settle the barn haunting to be real or not. Once we find that out, that will be the end of it and we can still do our jobs right.” 

Peridot nodded. “I guess we’re skipping trick-or-treating for this then.” She settles. “I’ll inform our client about it and tell Greg that we need a ride.”

The scrutinizing couple did not begin to think about what they could be up against once they prepared for the barn’s excursion…But to be prepared, they owned and packed their various essentials; holy water, crucifix, and technological advancements to track down their entities. And all were put into two solid suitcases. The priest offered a little more information of the barn’s whereabouts before leaving.  
“Just know that dusk is when the hauntings presumably happen.” He notifies. He even provided a hand-drawn map that located the predicted area. Also added was a scripture on the down left side;  
Proverbs 4:6 – Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. 

 

Six to seven o’clock in the evening. Greg Demayo, a close friend of theirs, drove them in his van to the rural area of their ocean-side town and navigated cautiously. The hand-drawn map was at use find to where the possible location might be…But it took them yearning minutes to get themselves lost for a while. And ironically, going astray got them to where they were.

At that juncture, they decided to stop at an open field and perceive the setting to be empty and calm.  
“This could be the place, right?” Lapis asks. Peridot guaranteed while contemplating. Nothing but winds and leaves were blanketing the locale. Nonetheless, it would not take long for all three of them to realize that there was a wide-open barn just a few inches away to pinpoint. 

The atmosphere adapted stouter and rousing. “Dang, that must be the most upsetting piece of architecture I’ve ever seen.” Greg commented. “I don’t think it would have killed them to fix the place a little before leaving it out here in the open.” 

The first thing to describe the barn in front of them was…well, a barn. It was red and white, large, and what people normally pictured what a barn would be like. But there were a few aspects that made it so eerily unalike. The roof was dented gravely and left with a vast hovel on it. Then there was the alley way doors which were half way opened unprecedentedly. A good first impression for the investigators. And it was time for work.

Lapis, Peridot and Greg drove closer to the edifice and got out. They unloaded their equipment and left them by the unsettling entrance. Far along and almost right off the while assuring the equipment, there was an unnerved chilling sensation after the autumn squalls blew. Worrying sounds were already being perceived inside the barn.  
“Hmm…Is that weeping in there?” Lapis considers. 

“Are you sure you two can solve this case on your own?” Greg enquired. “I don’t think I could last a whole hour in this busted up barn.”

“We’ll be fine. Thanks for taking us here, Greg.” Lapis answers.

“It’s going to be a short task. Why don’t you come along and help us here?” Peridot offers.

“Well I’d love to but I promised Steven that I’d join him for trick or treating.” He replies. “Speaking of which…I got to find a way out of here. Just try to call me if you guys need to go back to Beach City.”

They said their farewells and safe travels, and Greg retreated back to the van. The vehicle left off and drove back to pavement, auxiliary to town.  
Then Lapis and Peridot were left alone and looked at each other, nodding with poised expressions. They were assured for this task. They were always assured for any of their tasks.

“Well here goes nothing.” The petite investigator utters curious. Peridot did the honors of gradually pushing the alleyway doors even more and snuck in afterwards. She peeks as she saunters while breathing inaudibly. 

A startling moonlight peered through the dents and traveled inside the barn to partly illuminate the setting. With the help of Peridot’s flashlight that she brought out instantly, it revealed the true circumstance of the interior. The old owner must have been a hoarder since packages of priceless items were stacked or displaced. There was an old photo hung on the center corner which showed a couple who could have owned the barn before. Then the floors were perceived as made of birch wood and poorly gutted. Peridot noticed a bit of scratch marks and reddish stains marked on the bases. Maybe this was enough the proof that there was something in here already?

The two stepped foot even more until they reached half of the sector. This time they were standing upright and assertive rather than prowling. Two flashlights revealing the space, skulked around the walls and floors, were close-fitting it to be not so lavishly menacing. 

“Hmm…It’s just messy here.” Peridot remarks. “Actually, if this place might not be haunted, we could try to acquire this property for our own.”

“Why would we want to do that?” Lapis asks.

“Well, you do have a lot of artworks in our house. We could use this place as like a studio. Or maybe even a vacation home for just the two of us, unless we can find a way to clean up this mess though.”

But the conversation stops abruptly as Lapis and Peridot perceive a disquieting holler that made their eyes widen…It was indistinct and seemed like the growl of a forest animal. And at the same time, it was a human-like outcry. One thing for sure was that they both sensed it to be coming from only one, unknown entity. 

“aaughhh…”

“…You heard that, right…?” Peridot whispers. Lapis nods. 

Without warning, a cumbersome object violently soars across the room and nearly hits behind the couple. 

_*CRASH!*_

They tensely turn around and shine their flashlights at where they heard a deafening noise. It was simply a busted up engine, and it seemed to have already been blown up before. Peridot and Lapis held their hands tightly and looked at the other direction to track down who would have thrown such a weighty element. There was no one. 

“…I guess we’re about to deal with a poltergeist.” Lapis assumes. 

“…Perhaps. But if someone managed to take physical pictures of this thing, we could just be dealing with a basic demon.” Peridot adds. “Come on Lapis, let’s assemble the equipment before we miss anything else.”

 

The petite sleuth also happened to be a technician; hence a lot of the ‘ghost tracking gear’ was designed by her. Out of the luggage’s they brought with them was a very sensitive studio microphone, and 6 cameras attached to tripods. Two of them were thermal cameras, four were night vision cameras, and another two were cameras would take a picture automatically if sensors detected heat signatures. Lapis stabled most of them in different points of the floor they were standing on. All were turned on to record. One was reserved for when they could get up to the barn’s extra floor. 

_*Growl…*_

But noises and sanities seemed to noticeably follow Lapis more than her partner. 

Other equipment had to be armed to by person. Hence Peridot furnished the UV lights and sound detector to her body while configuring them for a second. The last thing in her luggage was her trusty tape recorder, where most of her and Lapis’ journeys are documented. 

She installs a new tape inside and presses the record button.  
“Log Date; 7 11 3. This is Peridot Warren, and with me currently is my wife and investigating partner Lapis Warren. Today we were urged by a client to examine an abandoned outhouse in the middle of the countryside, largely rumored to be haunted. As cases of hauntings in this location are only told in stories, we were qualified to gather as much evidence as possible to prove that there could be an entity roaming these parts, needless to say that this more of a like side quest instead of a serious mission to us.”

She begins to amble and use a radiation detector around the cluttered corners. “We’ve already found out that there is indeed something here. A minute ago I spotted these scratch marks on the floor boards, and me and Lapis were nearly hit by a tossed apparatus. All we must do now is just track it down perceptibly.” She continues to talk. “We don’t know how long we intend on being here, but we’ve come prepared to spend the night if we have to. My only hopes so far are that we dissipate this creature, still keep our titles as the best the paranormal investigators in town, and that Lapis will be safe tonight.”

She moseys to her blue haired wife who was standing by a now steady camera. “This is Peridot, signing out for now.” She concludes and presses the stop button. “Okay, looks like I’m not picking up anything down here. Let’s go and…what’s wrong?

Lapis was looking behind her with a disturbed expression and arms folded chillingly. “I think whatever is in here wants to grasp me more than you, Peri…” 

“Nah, that can’t be. We’ve only just been acquainted with this thing now. Maybe anxiety is just getting the best of you.” Peridot replies.

But the blue haired girl was sure that debauched occurrences can happen if either of them would not cautious. “Let’s just be careful here.”

 

They discovered a ladder foremost to the second floor and scaled it nippily. The sector was a lot weaker to stand on and hazardously reeking. Indeed they should be careful. They prowled with tools at range and eyes wide open. Peridot’s sound detector was not working at all, neither was the radiation detector either. Lapis was behind her with more cameras on her grasp. They stopped so they could plant one of them in half the room they were on. 

The heat perceiving camera was placed. All of a sudden, it flashes on its own and snaps a photo shockingly quick, startling them yet again.

*CLICK*

A conveying printer connected to the camera’s sensors was already printing an image of what it caught by the equipment downstairs. 

“…We can get that later. Right now I’m picking up something…” Peridot says pressured.  
She pointed the radiation detector to the shadowy room where their camera faced. It was beeping like feeble sirens and exposure was off the roof. And moreover, there were footsteps heard in the direction. Therefore both of them swiftly amble towards the area. 

Lapis grabbed her flashlight and shined a light again. “Where is it?” 

The detector stopped buzzing and the footsteps faded. “It ran off. It must be playing games with us then.” Peridot says. “Where are we now?”

The exceled lights uncovered them to be by a corner, and what looked like to be a lounging spot or a really sad living room. A green couch and a CRT television on the floor were professed, as well as a box of VHS’. They shawled the minute to inspect the room like what a detective would normally do. 

They see the VHS’ to be comprising the show Camp Pining Hearts. “We’re taking that home.” Peridot says. Then they beheld the couch and TV. The couch smelled like crap, that’s guaranteed. And what do you know…more blood stains and graze marks. As for the TV, it looked mid-conditioned but quite unsure if it even was. They stared at it for two moments, only to see it turn on by its own and play loud static. 

“What in the…” they both utter but pause again. The radiation detector was back at it again as it was picking up a reading downstairs. “Quickly! Let’s go!” 

Hurrying down the ladder, they follow the appraisals and hunt down the entity. They did not even make it half way to the room, however, as a heap of packages flew over and blocked their view and their way.  
_*CRASH!* yet again._ >

Lapis heard a recurrent stomping partial from where they were standing. And it did now sound so passive. Peridot struggled to get the loot out of their way and hassled more to catch this entity. She groaned and jolted her way out, and proceeded to the equipment. 

Alas, it vanished again, and the printer was discovered to be crushed. “Oh damn no. Where’s the photo…?” Peridot panicked and tried finding out if the picture it had produced was still fine. Recognizing later, she finds it outside and nearly crumpled. And the winds conveniently blow it inside for Peridot to grasp and examine. 

“Okay…Hmm…” she squints. “It…turns out we’re faced with a human apparition then?” Lapis also takes a peak and observes in awe. 

The hazy and rutted photograph revealed the top floor’s living room with an unfamiliar phantom sprawling in it. The physique gave this impression…A tall, suntanned woman standing blandly in the open. Hair was outsized and white, and covering half her face. Her size was likewise large, actually quite brawny as recognized through her bare arms. The last aspect is the eyes, shining a frightening absorbent yellow, and surprisingly what seemed to be the only thing glowing orange was her nose. 

“Who is this…?” Peridot inquires. “This was not what I was expecting at all.” She also thinks to herself ‘how did this buff and petrifying lady die?’

“Me too.” Lapis says “But hey, we finally have clear evidence to give to our client.”

“I wouldn’t say clear…” Peridot explicates. “This just looks like one of the proofs we saw this morning. We need more than just this image of whoever this is.” She paced around front and back while deciding what undertake next.

“Okay. We should split up for this one.” She announces. “I’ll be examining the living room upstairs and find out how the TV turned on. You on the other hand should find our phantom down here.”

Lapis instantly did NOT feel comfortable with that plan. She was covertly afraid of the entity but she could not wholly express why. And she was used to being close to Peridot whenever they were in a task; otherwise bad things happen to either of them.

“Wait, Peridot, let’s not do that.” Lapis expresses. “We never separate. And this barn is getting on my nerves quickly. I could feel the entity lurking up on us and I think it’s angry with us for being here.”

The blonde notices the obvious worries of Lapis. Her expression mimics hers and bites her lip. “I know we shouldn’t detach. But we have to finish this task soon. Whoever we’re with right now keeps compromising our tactics.” 

Her wife looks away and sighed wearily. “Okay then.”

Peridot crept and grasps the side of Lapis’ face. She softly kisses her cheek and looks onto her blue eyes while consolingly grinning. “It’s fine. I’ll be above you anyway and watch over you. You’ll be safe, I promise.” She tries to comfort. Lapis grins back and holds her partner’s own grasp to feel more comforted. 

 

After Peridot dashed up the ladder once more, she began to look over. All her detectors were at use at the same time so she could hunt down the tall woman further. Also at the same time, she had her gaze down at Lapis every minute so she could keep her two obligations active.  
Lapis can also overhear her speaking to her tape recorder and explaining the recent activity they have witnessed. Then and there, she thought that one of the cameras could have picked up something by now. So she chose one of them hoven by the portrait’s corner and facing the equipment, which was a thermal camera. She makes it stop recording for a brief moment and watches the 1 minute film it created with its temperature filter.

“Let’s see what we got…” she utters. The footage rewinds and she prudently observes any uncanny motion. Everything looked to be in place for a while. Most of the items were all just shades of blue and purple. But as the clip advanced, the unusual exploit is finally seen. The snapped apparition literally flashes out of nowhere like she fell from the roof and ensnared their equipment. The heat signature was heavily read and yellow. This was either be a powerful or very frustrated ghost. 

The figure grabbed the printer and crushed it with its bare hands. But it seemed to have just left the photo to fly off outside. Then it flashed again to the corner, where it most likely pushed the packages to block their way. The figure returns to the gear and damages the microphone, and crossly retreats to the other crook. There was hope with this one. The uncanny movements of the apparition had just given them their second proof. But Peridot wouldn’t be so happy to realize that her technology was ambushed by a ghost. 

Lapis saves the footage into the memory drive attached to the camera. She takes it out in case the apparition destroys the camera too, and so she could showcase it to Peridot. As she walks back to the gear to aquire some holy water, she halts. The footsteps were back. And something was behind again. 

_“heh heh heh heh….” She hears a coarse laughter._

The blue haired woman felt her shoulder caressed smoothly and sensed a hand inch to her neck. She gasps and turns back edgily once more, only this time she believed she saw an actual silhouette pass by her. Her eyes prolonged out of dread and felt herself quivering. She needed to call Peridot right now but she could not get herself to do it.  
She turns back to the equipment and tries to step another foot. But as soon as she ensues, her face was grappled and clasped mildly by an unseen being. The laughter is heard again only it was more intense this time. Lapis did not have the ability to struggle and run away. She did not even know if Peridot could see her, or if she was just hallucinating. But as she was contemplating and panicking, she sees the faint face of the apparition they have been hunting. An undeniably scary woman was staring at her with a grin so appalling. It petrified Lapis to her uppermost limits. No ghost has ever been so dangerously close and visible to her before.

_“…Where do you think you’re going…?” The physique speaks. Her voice was rough and neurotic._

Lapis’ torso is clenched and she was forcefully thrown within the rubbish and bends of the barn. The white haired spirit fades and proceeds to afflict her recent victim more.

 

On the other side of the precinct, Peridot stops speaking to her tape recorder when she hears more clutter downstairs. And she was already given sign that there was danger before she could use any of her devices to confirm ghost emission. 

“PERIDOT! HELP ME!” 

The blonde gasps heavily. “LAPIS!!!”

Her tape recorder, including her detectors was dropped to the ground and broke into scrap. The outcry of Lapis was so lurid that it was even picked up by the recorder before plummeting. Its smashed condition caused it to somewhat still work, and only repeatedly play “Peridot! Help me!”

Peridot stood upright and turned her head all over the place to anxiously find where her partner was. “Lapis, where are you?!” she exclaims. All that was retorted was a fleeting shriek of woe and suffocation.  
She then strides around the room like she was lost in a dense forest. Or in this case, she was looking for someone in a dense forest. Her panting could quickly be perceived as she tried scouting through the hoarded artifacts and skulked every corner. She cried out Lapis’ name with too many times to count. Their side quest had escalated WAY too quickly than any other task they had in the past and there has never been a time where She was untraceable from her. 

Yet she did not have to completely weep or collapse just yet. Peridot stops prowling around the barn when she hears someone grunting within her radius. She gradually turns to find a familiar form stood up upright and banally.  
It was Lapis. But Peri did not feel relieved to see her. She looked at her with a calmed expression that turned into a confused one. Where did the blood around her mouth come from? Why was she looking at her funny? Why was she standing there like nothing even happened to her? This could not be some kind of messed up joke since both of them were professionals. 

Peridot inquired her condition. “Why were you screaming for my help…?”

Lapis stops grunting and rather chuckles instead. “…You have to learn to keep you promises…” she says and chortles again. But her voice was incredibly altered. It sounded like two voices, jagged and serene, were trying to mash together into one voice. And it scared Peridot real good. “…I’ve had a hell of a night trying to figure out which one should I take. But right now, I’m realizing how much fun I’ve been having…”

The petite detains backwards and her attained fear was seen through her pupils. “You’re not my Lapis…” she says aggressive. 

“It’s not going to matter who this is sooner or later.” She replies. “You two have made a big mistake coming in here and trying to find me. And now you’re going to wish you would have minded your own business after I’m done with you and this body…”

“Wait, what are you going to do with her?!” Peridot asks angered. “Tell me your name right now, spirit! That way I can use it to expel your soul out of her’s!” 

The spirit now scheming Lapis takes an unnerving step forward. “Now that’s the thing; you’re never going to take me out. No one has ever succeeded in that…”

Now she was inching a lot closer. By her own instinct, Peridot grabbed a flask of holy water out of her pockets and faced it to the entity. It wasn’t the best idea, but she had to do something. “Step back now…” she says.

The grin on Lapis’ face fades away as she looks at the carafe and steps back. “…Hey, you put that crap out of my face.” She demanded. An unusual reaction for Peridot to see and listen. Was she vulnerable to something as basic as liquids blessed from vicars? Maybe trying to cast her out was not going to be as hard as initially thought.

“I suppose you don’t like this stuff.” Peridot utters and opens the cap of the water ampule. This time she was the one the taking a step forward. “I’m going to say this once…Get out of my wife or I’m going to spread your poison like it’s a garden sprinkler!” 

The apparition became perceptibly angry and did not hesitate to use Lapis’ body against Peridot right away. She becomes swift, and slaps the carafe out of her short hands and onto the wall. “You’re a real nuisance, aren’t you?” she asks. And this time, the facets of Lapis’ voice was heard no more and it was only the coarseness of the spirit’s actual voice. “I am NOT LEAVING THIS FORM!”

She strikes Peridot right in the stomach with her wife’s own fist and watches her fly to the equipment. The blonde groans in agony, feeling the sensation as if the strength of a tank missile just embattled her physically and mentally. She barely had the ability to stand up again, let alone remembering that it was a spirit that punched her and not actually Lapis. But she could not help it. This thing had just possessed her completely.

She coughed up blood that now became part of her guise and the floorboard stains. But then there came the tears that leaked down her barred eyes. She must have been feeling pain that Lapis had to endure while being possessed. If only she had known how to defend her a lot more. She failed to keep her oath in protecting her most important person at all cost during investigations, and she hated everything including herself for that. 

The possessed Lapis was leisurely creeping to her again since she knew her pain was not taking her anywhere. Yet Peridot sojourns lasting her abdominal strike and reached for one of her suitcases. It opens, and she feebly grabs another holy water ampule to use against her ghostly opponent. But the more she moved, the more she had to sorely whimper. Then she knew she was going to receive more discomfort, as she felt a bare foot gently stomp through her thick hair. 

“I’m impressed.” The spirit speaks. “When I choose to slay you two immediately, you somehow manage to stay alive…”  
Her other victim’s head was being pressed to the ground more. “…Everyone who comes to this dump instantly sees me as a monster. But I never did anything wrong…No one knows what death is like, you lose your identity. That’s why I decided to become the monster anyway.”

Peridot only comprehended a little bit of her story as her mind had to be focused in hopefully getting out of this. The spirit continued to speak anyway. “Since you and ‘Lapis’ are going to die here anyway, I might as well tell you who I really am.” She says and bends down to the petite. “…I am Jasper.”

The bottle of holy water that was unnoticeably still in Peridot’s grip had its cap open with only her fingers. With one immediate act, she shrieks loudly and squelches a heap of liquid above her to drizzle the blue haired girl’s figure. Jasper stops placing her feet at her face and annexations begin to trigger the spirit. Peridot overhears her screaming and wildly reverting to Lapis’ voice. It was a disturbing thing to listen to, but it was also a sign that she could free her from control. 

The pain Peridot received was only trivial now, hence she stances with her only weapon and confronts the bent and aggrieved Lapis. Another heap of holy water was spread across her body, and more screeches was heard. Lapis’ body sauntered towards the boxes and hid itself from plain sight. 

She could not begin to process what she had heard, saw, or witnessed in general for those brief and horrific moments of encountering a possessed version of her love. She wiped the remaining tears off her face and wondered if the apparition had stop control over her body. “…L-Lapis…?” she dimly calls out. 

The shouting stopped. Indeed, the entity was casted out by mere drips of water and Lapis’ body was free. She popped out of the scrap limply and unconsciously, landing on the floor and disquieting Peridot. The blonde investigator kneels down and checks for any vitals of her being. “Oh God please be okay…” she speaks. Lapis was okay. And she was relieved finally. 

This was not over yet, however. The whaling of Jasper was still heard and waring off soon. Peridot looks over and turns out she could see the large ghost this time. Jasper’s true form came out through the boxes too and stood in front of her exorcist. Before, she looked human and impartial. But she looked more exhausted, and now there were green spots and growing out of her arms. The holy water must have affected that hideousness. 

“That’s disgusting…” Peridot utters. Being assured that Lapis was going to be safer, she walks around and provokes her new adversary. She had enough. It was time for defeat. Jasper did not know where this was going. But she was soon met with a whole flask size of demon-killing liquors when Peridot threw the whole container at her. The last screech was caught and she completely stumbled down to her face, just like what happened to her prey. 

The investigator began to yell her name and label her. “You are Jasper, the abuser of depths and the embodiment of suffering.” She says belligerently. She proceeded to chant a number of devout words that she had saved a long time for dispelling a demon. They were not too long, but the speech was enough to make Jasper feel her throbbing. Shortly, she did not appear to be human anymore. The incantation caused her to transform into a truly monstrous, hirsute, _corrupted_ version of her. It was a beast made from vengeance and pride. 

Peridot’s tone had rose aggressively and stopped the chanting. She did not care to process if Jasper had become a beast. All she did was place her own boot on her and said the final words to disperse her for good.  
“I condemn you back to hell.” 

Jasper’s figure had faded to a normal silhouette. And her silhouette had faded into nothing more than inexistence. Peridot’s fearlessness was conducted solely because she wanted to save her most important person to her. 

She panted incredibly vast after that excursion of an exorcism. She looks back and dailies to Lapis who was comatose on the floorboards.  
“Lapis! Wake up!” she bellows. “I defeated Jasper. She was the one who was haunting this place all along.”

Surprisingly, Lapis immediately wakes up from her partner’s voice. She rises up like she had just taken a nap. A nap filled with nightmares at least. “Peridot…” she murmurs. And after realizing the bloodstained look on her acquitted expression, she panicked.

“Oh gosh…Peridot, your face!” she grasps it softly. “I-I can’t believe I…….Peri, I’m sorry I let that happen. I would never mean to hurt you and scare you so much like that…Fuck, I should have never said yes to take this task otherwise we would have been okay…”

She did not answer. All she did was gape down and let one last tear drop from the side of her face. And then she was gaping back at Lapis. “It’s…okay, Laz.” She absolved. “I’m the one who should be sorry. You were possessed, and I did not think ahead of that.”  
She grasped one of Lapis’ and felt their warmth getting the best of them. “I made many promises when we were engaged that I would protect you from all kinds of risk. Tonight I just got both of us hurt, and I might as well deserve pain more than you.”

Lapis got herself closer to Peridot’s nearness and tried to ease her. “Please don’t say that. You just saved me, and I love you Peridot.”

Their venting ended with a deep embrace by the petite and sniffling blonde. “I love you too Lapis…” 

The blue haired ceased the embrace and instead pulled her closer to kiss her ardently on her lips. The caress lingered for a while, not minding whether their lips were sanguine or they were inside a broken down barn anymore. They just needed to be at ease and forget about the task.

 

The next morning.

The couple never contacted Greg to bring them back to Beach City. They literally stayed and passed out on a hammock for the whole night. The task to uncover the long rumored Barn Haunting was the most short-lived yet laborious case the two partners have faced so far in their lifetime. 

When they did choose to go back home eventually, they met with their eager client with what was left of their proof. Several different types of video clips were submitted including one photograph. Not to mention the wreckage of Peridot’s tech to verify the haunting. 

They confirmed the barn to be ONCE haunted. And they did not care if he was going to spread the news to everyone or keep it confidential. What they wanted now was some time alone

**Author's Note:**

> bonus ending: lapis and peridot aquire the barn.  
> i'm just gonna leave this fic here and rest. maybe work on my next submissions soon.


End file.
